High-efficiency electro-optic grating for optical switching

Abstract A high diffraction efficiency electro-optic phase grating is fabricated by depositing transparent interdigital electrodes on a lanthanum-modified lead zirconate titanate ceramic wafer. The diffraction efficiency is controlled by an applied d.c. voltage. The zero-order light is completely shut off when the first-order diffraction reaches its maximum, with a voltage of 140 V. The device can be used as a voltage-controlled switch in optical interconnects.